Lou Amdur and Sotto Celebrate Sicily This Thursday

What has wine guru Lou Amdur been up to since selling his wine bar earlier this year? Quite a bit, apparently. Fresh off a recent trip to Sicily (Vittoria and Etna, for those keeping score), Amdur will be hosting a one-night Sicilian wine dinner at Sotto on June 21, at 7 p.m., focusing on natural Italian wines -- including varieties from vintners such as COS, Occhipinti and Cornelissen.

Also joining in will be Sotto's in-house sommeliers, Jeremy Parzen and Rory Harrington, both of whom are experts in their own right in pairing Sotto's Southern Italian fare with far-flung Sicilian wines. Matching up with Amdur's famously off-the-wall tasting notes will be a few paired bites from from chefs Steve Samson and Zach Pollack. Reservations for the $40 tasting can be had by emailing the restaurant at nastassia@sottorestaurant.com.

Garrett Snyder is a food writer and cookbook author based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in outlets such as the L.A. Times, Los Angeles magazine, Tasting Table, Punch, GQ and KCRW. He enjoys tiki drinks and Taco Tuesdays.